The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Panel-mounted controllers are used throughout industry for various purposes, such as for heater, sensor, and/or power control purposes. Panel-mounted controllers are typically mounted on a control panel and/or in an electrical box and control and monitor features of a machine. Some examples of machines are industrial heaters, environmental chambers, injection molders, and packaging equipment, which are often located within a factory or manufacturing facility.
There are an abundant number of different assemblies and associated packaging for panel-mounted controllers. The assemblies and elements thereof are application specific and thus are designed, sized and configured for a particular process. Each assembly includes one or more circuit boards, a display, and a variety of internal and external electrical connecting elements, such as terminals, headers, and connectors. The circuit boards may include power supply cards, control loop cards, communication cards and other cards. The electrical connecting elements have application specific terminal and pin layouts and alignment geometries. Each assembly may also include a housing, which is configured to mount on a panel and/or in an electrical box. As a result, there are an abundant number of different components and parts that need to be stocked for the production and maintenance of panel-mounted controllers.
A demand exists to increase features and functionality of panel-mounted controllers. With increased features and functionality comes increased circuitry, which requires increased circuit board surface area and an increased number of input and output terminals. However, current panel-mounted controller designs, for a given package size, are limited in the number and size of circuit boards and in the number of terminals that can be incorporated therein.